Clyde With Volunteer Day just a few days away and the conference close behind, I just wanted to thank all who so graciously have committed to working to help those in need in the Atlanta area. As we have done in New Orleans and Philadelphia, we are set to work in food banks, light construction and home maintenance, and (in a first for us) work in an organic community garden.
I recognize that many of you are volunteers in your community and this very special one-day event for us is but a small bit of what you already do and what we collectively are capable of. As Director of Volunteerism for the DRI Foundation, and a board member, I will be working with my team to shape our year-long volunteerism roadmap.
Doing this doesn’t come easy in a world where incidents, outages, and disasters are commonplace and not showing any signs of diminishing.We have a lot of work ahead of us in preparedness training, after-incident assistance, and collaboration with agencies that are embedded in the response model around the globe.
Stay tuned for more information about the DRI Foundation and how we hope to influence change and impact resilience across the world.
We are but one small part of making sure that communities are prepared with intelligent strategies to be safe when danger strikes.
The DRI Foundation is more than our one-day volunteer effort with our conference, more than fundraising, more than caring and sharing. We also have a passionate and profound belief that we can make a difference. We, just a small cadre of concerned professionals, have the knowledge, desire and compassion to help, to influence change and to really enable people to be safer and ultimately more secure in their communities and homes.
Helping others for many is a way of life. We would like to embed that thinking in our philosophy and ensure that we can help you all to be active contributors to more resilient communities worldwide. I am looking forward to seeing many of you on Volunteer Day (this Saturday, May 17) and at the conference.
All the best,
Clyde Berger
Vice President and Director of Volunteerism
Disaster Recovery International Foundation